The giant spider webs in Sindh, Pakistan, sometimes stretched from tree to tree, as seen above in December 2010.

"Any kind of vegetation that was above ground was affected, literally every kind of tree and bush," Watkins said of the widespread spider webs.

While unusual, trees cocooned in spider webs are not unprecedented. Scientists have reported similar webs in other parts of the world, the tropics in particular. In 2007, for instance, a superintendent at Lake Tawokoni State Park in Texas discovered a giant spider web among the trees.

Watkins said he didn't know which type of spider was responsible for the tree cocoons in Sindh. But in the case of Lake Tawokoni, scientists determined that dozens of spider species were spinning the communal webs.

2010年12月，在巴基斯坦的信德省，出現了纏繞于樹與樹之間的巨大蜘蛛網。

對于在當地泛濫的蜘蛛網，Watkins說到，“任何長在地面上的植被都被波及了，幾乎包括每一種樹木和灌木”。

雖然不常見，但被縛成“繭”的樹卻并不是第一次出現了。之前在熱帶地區，科學家們就已經過觀察到類似的網了。比如2007年，在德克薩斯州的Lake Tawokoni州立公園也發現了樹木間巨大的蜘蛛網。

Watkins說，他并不清楚到底是哪一種蜘蛛在信德省織出了困住樹木的網。不過在Lake Tawokoni，研究人員發現數十種蜘蛛都在為這項浩大的工程貢獻自己的力量。